


The Present’s A Virus

by RobinWritesChirps



Series: Starkid Quarantine [1]
Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid
Genre: Coronavirus, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Oh my god they were quarantined, Quarantine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:40:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23477107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobinWritesChirps/pseuds/RobinWritesChirps
Summary: Tom and his family suffer through quarantine the best they can − but at least they can count on each other for support the whole way through. Barneston-Foster family comfort fic.Y’all stay home, stay safe, wash your hands. We’re all ~ in this ~ together ~
Relationships: Becky Barnes/Tom Houston, Lex Foster & Tom Houston
Series: Starkid Quarantine [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695739
Comments: 26
Kudos: 43





	The Present’s A Virus

Tom had run out of home repair projects ten days ago. Everything that could be fixed had been fixed and bettered and everything that could be cleaned or washed was blindingly neat. The whole house was squeaky clean, more proper than it had ever been since they had taken in the girls despite the kids’ constant efforts to the opposite. Tim was buzzing with the urge to move and shout and live a little (or a lot) and every moment seemed to be spent assuaging him lest he would lose his goddamn mind. They had taken him on walks every day until Hatchetfield had deemed the park unsafe and he now unleashed in the backyard a couple of hours a day, but it was hardly enough for him or for them. Lex had had her job until she hadn’t, Toy Zone not quite as essential as her manager had always made it seem. She still had a few classes every morning from her laptop where she put on her nicest sweater and pretended she hadn’t just woken up. Hannah seemed the least touched by it all, quietly tuning into her classes every day, applying herself to homework, and otherwise playing and humming and reading much like she always did, if for the lack of a maternal presence.

Tom was holding up the fort all on his own till they saw the end of it − perhaps the lack of any estimation for when the end of the ordeal would come was worse than the situation itself. Workshop classes weren’t exactly to be given from a distance, not without material results and his side job at carpentry had dwindled to nothing as first people realized that their construction works weren’t quite as pressing as they had thought, and then had been forbidden altogether except for true emergencies. He had not left home at all in days.

"Hey, babe."

At least there was Becky, at least his beautiful wife was saving the world one patient at a time at St Damian’s. When in the early phase of the outbreak, the first patient had been declared in Hatchetfield, she had insisted on isolating herself from the family for fear to be putting them at a greater risk. She had been staying at a coworker’s for nearly a month and Tom’s bed and life was empty of her. He was so very proud of her. He was also craving her back in his arms and wished she would come home.

"Tom," Becky sighed in relief and he made himself more comfortable as he laid back on the couch, smiling up at the tablet screen but not even a full HD video chat was worth the feel of her hair between his fingers, the warm softness of her skin in the palm of his hand. "How’re you holding up?"

Tim in his room playing his Switch on the bigger screen, some new game Lex had gotten for the both of them to give them a taste of the outside without leaving these walls. Hannah lying flat on the carpet pushing her toy cars around with motor sounds that probably went unheard by her as she listened to her music with headphones too big for her little head. Lex was out for groceries − Tom would have gone with but only single person trips were allowed anymore and he had sensed that she needed fresh air more than him.

"Painfully?" He said, chuckling. "Oh, hey bud."

At the sound of Becky’s voice, the cat had perked up and presently climbed on top of Tom’s chest. Realizing his favorite human was nowhere to be found, he curled up against him and purred loudly, which made her smile. Tom scratched him between the ears and smiled back.

"I miss you," she said softly. Something teasing glinted in her tired eyes. "And you too, Tom."

At night, the cat had taken to occupy the right side of the bed − Tom wouldn’t have dared to sprawl on the half that was rightfully hers, no matter the freedom in her absence. The sheets had smelled a little bit of her until he had washed them in a frenzy of cleaning the room top to bottom the first week. Now they smelled of too much detergent and solitude. Several nights, Tim had invited himself under the covers and Tom had snuggled his son close and stroked his hair to soothe him back to sleep.

"How was work?"

She shrugged, falsely nonchalant so as to not worry him further, he knew.

"It was work," she replied simply. He saw against her cheeks the marks still imprinted of the protection equipment she had worn all twelve, fifteen hours of her shift. "Are the kids alright?"

Through the ceiling, Tom could hear Tim’s excitement and frustration, somehow even more vocal than he already was. It was a perfect mirror of Hannah’s imperturbable serenity. Her head was nodding quietly, surely in rhythm with the music, and she was sorting the cars by colors to match the pattern of the carpet underneath.

"They’re fine," he smiled. "They miss you. Tim says you cook way better than me."

She smiled. She was lounging comfortably in her friend’s armchair, wrapped snug in a huge plaid that dwarfed her and made her look all the lovelier. Her hair was still damp from her shower, the strict regimen before and after every shift, and made a wet patch against her sweater.

"Maybe by the time we’re out of this mess you’ll have learned so much you’ll beat me."

He laughed, but the sight of her was making his stomach clench with loneliness and for a moment they simply looked at each other. Every night they called each other, for minutes or hours depending on the day, but no amount of screen time could make up for the feel of her hand in his. He stroked the cat’s back gently.

"I wanna see you," he sighed. "I wanna hold you and kiss you. I miss you so much."

"I miss you too, Tom," she said and blinked softly. "I don’t sleep as well here, it’s not the same."

"We’ll get it all when we’re back," he said. His heart was already beating hard and strong at the prospect, the one thing pulling him through it all. "All the kisses, and a nice bath or something…" He glanced to check Hannah was still nodding along with her music before muttering the next part. "And I could give you a massage or…"

"If you give one more suggestion," Lex said from the doorway between the kitchen and the lounge, "I’m running away from home and licking every door handle I see to catch the virus so that I don’t have to hear more. There’s innocent ears here.

Tom startled so hard the cat jumped off of him, claws digging sharply before the leap. He groaned painfully.

"Definitely not yours," he retorted in a low grumble.

Becky bit back a giggle and he wondered if she had heard Lex come in and simply not told him or if the both of them had been caught red-handed. Either way, he frowned in the general direction of his elder child but she was already busy putting away bags of groceries for the rest of the week. Grabbing the tablet, he went to help, leaning Becky against the wall of the countertop so that she may talk with them both.

"Hi, Lex," she said gently.

Lex waved with a grin, the fake display of prudishness already forgotten. Cleaning her hands once, cleaning the groceries for precaution, then their hands again. Hatchetfield had given instructions, Becky even stricter ones, and Tom never liked her to worry for them when she already had so much on her plate so the groceries were washed after each trip.

"You doing okay?" She asked. "How are classes?"

Sitting back on the couch, they put between them the recommended distance, not that the isolation was ever followed at home, but for Becky’s sake, they never made a show of holding each other snug when she could see.

"Classes are good," Lex replied, which might have been a bold lie but one meant with kindness. "Beck, how are _you_? We miss you here."

"Oh, you know," Becky shrugged modestly. "Just doing what I can."

"You’re a true hero," Lex said, which made Becky smile but Tom saw plain on her face just how pained she was too. "You are!"

"Well, it’s all we can do. The janitors are braver than I am."

More than ever, Tom was proud of her, in her absence every bit as much as when she was still here.

"I think I’ll go to bed now, though," Becky said eventually. "I’m exhausted."

"Of course! Of course. Night, babe."

"Goodnight, Tom," she smiled and, Lex or no Lex around, she blew him a kiss before hanging up.

As soon as the call ended, Lex crashed against Tom’s shoulder, always holding any display of affection from Becky’s eyes as long as they were talking to her to not hurt her feelings with the solitude of separation. Tom smiled down at her, wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"That kinda day, huh?"

She grunted.

"You know what kinda day I’ve had," she retorted, "We’ve spent all last month stuck here together."

"And you’ve loved every second, I see," he joked.

That prompted no more than a tired chuckle. She yawned. It wasn’t especially late, but the lethargy of a life suddenly put to a forced stop was making all of them lose the meaning of time, even of the days passing. A month might have been a year, a few hours as much as a week when there was nothing to do but fret. Fingers through her hair and she nestled more comfortably against him. Not seeing the rest of their loved ones, her girlfriend, his wife, the kids’ school friends, was making the whole family cuddlier, more affectionate with the ones they could still hold onto. Tom wondered if that switch would remain after they were freed from isolation. He hoped so.

"Is it weird I’m kinda looking forward to going back to school?" She asked after some time.

He shook his head.

"Nah," he said. "So am I."

"Yeah, but you _like_ school."

He glanced down, quirking an eyebrow.

"So do you," he retorted, which made her snort. "A little bit, don’t lie."

"Sure, Jan."

They sat there quietly. Hannah was done playing with her cars and was now laying on her back, her eyes closed but smiling to herself at her music. Her fingers were tapping the ground softly. Tom leaned and kissed the top of Lex’s head. Any other time, she would have groaned, torn herself from him, but she just sighed contentedly.

"It’ll be over soon," he said eventually. "We’ll get through this, we always have."

"Except those who don’t," Lex noted grimly.

Tom agreed with a stern nod. He no longer had parents to worry about, but the world was crowded with vulnerable people who lacked the protection they needed. And in his personal life too, even if the children were safe enough in here with him, Becky was still at risk and he had not had a good night of sleep in weeks. They would come out of it one way or another, he knew. He could only pray to the outcome he hoped for. The family that was around, the family that wasn’t, he could only pray and pray on and on and maybe, finally, the end of it would come to be. Whichever way it went.


End file.
